"We can't allow things that are inaccurate to stand." — The Word of Our Dan, February 19, 2008.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Oversight

From a James McLeod report in Wednesday's Telegram:

Canada doesn't end at Halifax: council

Mayor Dennis O'Keefe was at a luncheon in Houston during the Offshore Technology Conference when the Canadian consul general got up to speak.

"In referencing oil developments across Canada, he started in British Columbia and finished with offshore Nova Scotia," O'Keefe said. "The East Coast oil industry is off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, the oil offshore Nova Scotia pales in comparison, and that's with developments that are current today, let alone new developments that will be occurring."

When he mentioned this during the meeting, O'Keefe's story sparked a discussion involving almost every member of council sharing their own stories and frustration at Newfoundland's neglect.

[...]

O'Keefe said he doesn't know what can be done to change people's attitudes.

"That kind of comment reinforces the stereotype - the stereotype of Canada being from Vancouver to Halifax, and the terrible, terrible omission about the offshore oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and Labrador," he said.

"They are aware, they do know, they're not stunned, but for some inexplicable reason, the references continue. It's almost like it's been going on for so long that it happens in a rote fashion."

Yip.

That's what it's almost like. Something that's been going on for so long that it happens in a rote fashion:

"It seems like every time I set my foot off this island, I have something said to me that incenses me," Coun. Tom Hann said.